Angela’s Story:
I once read, “The mind is the battlefield on which our war with Satan is won or lost. Satan is a liar and a deceiver.” The knowledge gained through Restoring Lives International exposes these lies. I used to live with tormenting fear and almost daily experienced the feeling of being anxious in the pit of my stomach. I often felt rejected and always felt that I never quite fit in.Through the years, I began to experience different intense emotions of anger, rage, hate and even bitterness. As these increased, I tried to become more perfect. The more I tried, the worse I got.
I had always experienced problems in my intestinal track; I was either constipated or the opposite! I thought all of this was normal. I thought this was just who I was. As my emotions grew to intense levels, so did the problems in my intestinal track. As an adult, I was diagnosed with an inflammatory bowel disease called ulcerative colitis. The doctor told me there was no cure and I would have to be on medication indefinitely. I was also told that if it grew worse, I would have to undergo surgery to remove a portion of my lower intestines.
My first question to the doctor was, “How did I get this?” He answered, “You inherited it.” I went on a quest to find out who in my family had it and I found out no one did. I literally cried out to the God and asked Him the same question. A thought came to me that I knew was the answer. I hadn’t inherited the ulcerative colitis but I had inherited what caused it.
Through a series of events, I was lead to the RLI ministry. The Lord used this ministry to expose the lies and tactics the kingdom of darkness was using against me. The extremely unhealthy emotions were causing my body to be sick.
I’m happy to say that when I began gaining the knowledge I needed, God’s Word and His truth began to change me. The negative emotions that I thought were “just the way I am” no longer were a part of me! He set me free from the tormenting fear and the anxious feelings. Love and forgiveness began to rule my heart where rage, anger and bitterness once did. And furthermore, was healed of the ulcerative colitis!
I walked in freedom for almost eight years and then the unthinkable happened. I began to experience the same symptoms. This time I knew the door had been opened because of an offense. I was on the receiving end of an emotional and verbal attack that I had never before experienced . The only way I can describe it is that it carried an evil force that was far beyond what a human could give. For a year and nine months God led me on a journey of teaching me about offenses and how I was to deal with them. He reminded me of destructive family patterns and I continually chose to fall out of agreement with them. As a final step, He led me to take was to attend another RLI conference. During the conference, the Lord showed me exactly what was behind the offense. I had come face-to-face with a generational stronghold that literally manifested against me. Once again the faithfulness and power of God set me free. Almost immediately my bowels began to function properly, but the biggest change was not physically. I began to love people like I never had before. I began to see the beauty in God’s creation with more clarity and thankfulness. My being was literally filled with His peace.
I absolutely know there was a change made deep inside me because I was placed in the same situation again one week after the conference. Just like before, accusations were flying and strife was present but I did not respond negatively to any of it. It no longer had a hold on me. I truly experienced peace in the midst of the storm.